CCP Update: Final Update

This past week leading up to the JWC was really hard, and yet amazing all the same.  I know that many CCPers had a difficult time doing ministry because most of the students had gone home, so the campus was pretty much empty.  Jessica and I had said goodbye to almost all of our girls before the week had even begun, so we spent a little bit of time evangelizing at the Great Hall and processing our experiences with each other. Bill had encouraged us to continue seeking to find students to spend time with, even though we were days away from the end of our time on campus.  On Wednesday, we met a new girl through a game of Ultimate Frisbee and ended up spending some time with her that night.  She seemed excited to meet some new girls and wanted to spend time with us getting ice cream.  We ended up asking her if she would like to study the Bible with us, and then spent about an hour studying Romans 6:23.  After this, she ended up praying to receive Christ.  Jessica and I found it really cool that she prayed in her own language as well.  Another interesting fact: she lives off campus in the education building, which is funny because Jessica and I were supposed to do ministry in that dorm, but our plans fell through and we stayed in Sunnyside for our time at Wits.  It makes me laugh because it’s as if God was saying, “Well, if you won’t go to her, I’ll bring her to you.”  We spent the next night with her, teaching her how to study the Bible and answering a lot of questions, and then the next morning she left to go home.  We pray that she invests in community here and begins to surround herself with other people who can encourage her as she begins to walk with God.

Joint Winter Conference ended yesterday morning, and it was awesome.  The girls that we had sign up for JWC ended up not being able to come, so we spent a lot of time with some of the student leaders at Wits and meeting new people from other regions and universities.  Andrew Holbrook really spent a lot of time talking to us from Titus about God’s grace, what it means to us and what it does for us, and then how we should live in light of that.  I heard many of the students talking about how they had begun to finally understand what that means, and how it changed their view of God.  Even for myself, who has heard that message many times, it was well needed and an amazing reminder of how loving the Lord is to us, and our call to renounce ungodliness and live upright lives.  There was also a point during his talk that he asked the audience to show how many people lived outside of South Africa, and we found out that there were over 12 different countries represented at this conference.  I do not know of any girls personally that became Christians over those days, but I do know of several men and women that professed faith for the first time.

We had a worship night on our last night there, which was probably my favorite experience at the JWC.  The worship team sang several songs in English at the beginning of the evening, and then moved into a time of worshipping God in their languages.  I took several videos that I hope I am able to post later on here to share with you, but it was so cool to hear them singing in Zulu, Xhosa, and Africaans.  People were dancing and laughing, praising God and worshipping Him with songs of praise, and it was so joyful and wonderful to stand beside people from a different nation than myself and worship the same God.  I wish that we worshipped in that way in the United States because after this trip I have come to see that dancing is such an awesome way to express the joy we find in Christ.

All of the students that came to the Joint Winter Conference

Wits Students at the Joint Winter Conference

So, this begins the first of a lot of “lasts.” This Tuesday was the final time that we were with the South African students, and there were many tears shed and pictures taken as we hugged them goodbye.  The women on our team have really grown to love the leaders that we have worked alongside and the first year students that we have met, and it was difficult to believe that our time in ministry here has finally come to an end.

Today we are spending time resting from the JWC and preparing for the two-day safari we are going on tomorrow, which is our last excursion.  We will be going to Pilansburg Game Park and camping at the reserve for the first night, and then we are spending the other night in a hotel.  Most of us are really excited because we are also getting to go on a “Bush Walk,” where we are able to walk through the park without being in a vehicle.  Bill told us we will be escorted by men with guns, because we will be walking through areas where there are predators.  Apparently, these guards have had to shoot rhinos that have charged at groups they are leading once or twice, so the guys on our team got really excited when they found out that they will be so close to these animals.  I’m really excited for all of this; I mean, I never ever though I would get to go on a safari in Africa, so I feel like these are going to be some amazing memories over the next couple of days.

We will also be spending a lot of time processing our trip over the next five days before we come home.  We will be spending time each night encouraging each other with things that we have seen over our time living together and sharing memories from our trip.  We were told that these next several days are for us to rest, reflect, recreate, and re-enter (life at home).  I don’t think it has completely hit me yet that everything we spent so long preparing for is almost over.  I’m not sure if it’s that my heart doesn’t believe it or my head is choosing to ignore it, but there are so many ways that I am attached to this place and I don’t think I have accepted that in a week I will not longer be here.  I’m excited to see everyone, but having a hard time with the idea that I will have to leave my new home at the Sunbury Guest House and the campus of Wits.  I love South Africa. I love the food, the culture, the people, the history, the languages, and the God that is moving among those living here.  I am grateful and thankful that I was able to witness a small part of how God is redeeming this city, and this country, to himself, and I will never forget the memories that were made here and the people that we have grown to love.  There are so many things that a blog post could not tell and that pictures could not convey to you about this trip and experience, but I wish that I could fully express how thankful I am that I was called here by God and sent her by those of you that so graciously loved and supported me. 

This will be my last blog post until I return home, because I don’t think I will get internet and this next week will probably be too rushed with packing and preparations to return for me to write another one.  However, our team is currently editing and putting together a video of our time here with some testimonies from students and footage from excursions and ministry.  I'll share it on here as soon as we are finished with it. I also have several mini-videos of my own of different things from this trip, but the internet here is too slow to post them so I will do that also when I get back to the US.  Thank you for reading this and loving myself and my team; see you all in six days!

In Him,

Katlyn

Ps- I ate chicken feet today.  Not too bad.